Business

ZAGREB, July 31, 2019 - Croatia Airlines ended the first half of 2019 with an operating loss of 79.8 million kuna, the national flag carrier said in a financial statement on Wednesday. The loss in the first quarter was expected because of the usual low demand and minimal presence of competition at that time of the year, while in the second and third quarters, when all traditional and low-tariff carriers are present, it generates profits with which it covers the losses from the winter period. In the first half of 2019, Croatia Airlines flew 960,620 passengers, of whom 615,000 or…

ZAGREB, July 31, 2019 - The New York-based investment bank Lazard is the Croatian government's new consultant on the buyback of the Hungarian energy group MOL's stake in the INA oil company, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić told reporters in Zagreb on Wednesday after a meeting of the government's Advisory Committee on INA. Marić recalled that a consortium of Morgan Stanley, Intesa Sanpaolo Group and Privredna Banka Zagreb had previously been selected as a consultant, but that disagreements had emerged over what should be included in the agency agreement, notably technical aspects of the hiring of consultants. "We decided to conduct…

ZAGREB, July 31, 2019 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Wednesday a tax on sugar in soft drinks under new rates proposed by the government would not necessarily mean higher revenues for the Health Ministry. This tax has no specific purpose, so its revenue is general and serves to pay the general needs from the state budget, he told reporters when asked if the Health Ministry could count on higher revenues due to higher sugar rates. Marić said the government was not imposing a new tax but correcting an existing one. The sugar ratio in soft drinks, under the…

ZAGREB, July 30, 2019 - On Tuesday, the third day of her state visit to Israel, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović attended in Haifa the naming ceremony of a catamaran built in Croatia and the signing of the International Sister Seaports Agreement between the Port of Rijeka and the Port of Haifa. The catamaran is seven years old and was built in a private shipyard on Korčula island. The agreement between the two seaports was signed by the temporary CEO of the Port of Rijeka, Duško Grabovac, and Haifa Port CEO Mandi Zatzman. I am convinced that this agreement, which is…

ZAGREB, July 30, 2019 - Croatia's industrial production fell by more than 5% in June 2019 compared with the same month of 2018, its largest decrease since December 2018 and the first after five months of growth, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Tuesday shows. According to calendar-adjusted data, industrial production in June 2019 fell by 2.2% from the previous month and sank by 5.6% compared with June 2018. It was the first drop in production after five months of growth and the largest decline since December 2018 when it plummeted by 6.6% year on year.…

ZAGREB, July 30, 2019 - Atlantic Grupa generated an operating profit of 275.8 million kuna in the first half of 2019, an increase of 11.3% over the same period in 2018, while net profit after minority interests rose by 13.9% to 213.5 million kuna, the food company said in a financial statement on Tuesday. Sales revenue was 2.57 billion kuna, up 3.5% from last year. The group's Vice President for Finance, Zoran Stanković, said that a special focus had been placed on brand management and human resources. All this has certainly contributed to the trust placed in us by the…

ZAGREB, July 30, 2019 - Hauliers registered with the Croatian Chamber of Crafts (HOK) are not satisfied with partial solutions related to the Croatian-Slovenian agreement on the border crossing regime because it does not cover all areas of Croatia, HOK said in a press release on Monday. The HOK hauliers said they were "pleased that hauliers from Dalmatia would be allowed to use border crossings they naturally gravitate to," but noted that it was unacceptable to consider this to be the successful end of negotiations because hauliers from counties east of Varaždin and Zagreb would not be able to conduct…

ZAGREB, July 30, 2019 - The Consumer Confidence Index continued to rise in June, reaching an all-time high since consumer expectations are measured, data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB) shows. The increase in optimism in the second quarter of this year compared with the first quarter reflected more favourable movements of all three composite indices. Compared with May, the Consumer Expectations Index, which reflects the expectations of consumers for the next 12 months with regard to the financial situation of their household and the general economic situation in Croatia, returned to positive territory, from -1.6 to 1.8, rising by…

ZAGREB, July 29, 2019 - Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Monday that information about a possible new government consultant for the buy-back of INA's shares from the Hungarian energy group MOL would be clearer after a meeting of the INA Advisory Committee on Wednesday. Asked whether a new consultant would be selected in the process of buying back INA's shares, Ćorić said that the Advisory Committee was meeting on Wednesday and that after that the next steps would be known. Last year the government selected the consortium of Morgan Stanley, Intesa Sanpaolo Group and Privredna Banka Zagreb…

ZAGREB, July 29, 2019 - Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Monday that it had not been decided yet on whether a nuclear waste storage facility would be built on Mount Trgovska Gora near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and if such a decision were made, the neighbouring country would be able to raise its concerns. Ćorić made the statement after being asked by the press in Zagreb whether a decision had been made to store medium and low radioactive waste from the Krško nuclear power plant at Trgovska Gora and whether in that case Croatia should…